Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 6 has the gaming world abuzz right now as the rumor mills are spinning overtime. The questions on everyone's lips are: when is the next Grand Theft Auto coming out, will there be GTA Online, and what will the gameplay look like?

It's been over a decade since Grand Theft Auto 5 came out, and fans eagerly devour any official crumbs dropped by Rockstar Games regarding GTA 6. Without further ado, here's everything we know about the next Grand Theft Auto so far, including leaked footage and news about GTA 6's release date.

When is GTA 6 coming out?

Grand Theft Auto 6 was officially announced by Rockstar Games back in February 2022, as they cited the "unprecedented longevity of GTA 5." However, there has not been an official announcement regarding the release date of GTA 6.

However, fans' prayers have been answered. On November 8, Rockstar Games revealed that the first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer will drop sometime in early December.

Speaking about their quarterly financial reports in August, Strauss Zelnick, CEO, stated that GTA publisher Take-Two would see a "significant inflection point" in fiscal 2025. In basic terms, this indicates a big change i.e. a new game launch.

With this current timeline, we can make an educated guess that the release date for GTA 6 will be around Q4 2024, just in time for Christmas. We know this is still a long time to wait, but we think it'll be worth it!

What platforms will GTA 6 be on?

While there have been no official announcements on what platforms Grand Theft Auto 6 will be playable on, we can assume it'll be all next-gen consoles like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

We don't yet know if Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles will be able to run the new game. If you're buying the PC version, you'll probably need a beast of a computer to keep up with the graphics and CPU demand.

GTA 6 Leaks So Far

Despite still being in active development, data miners have been hard at work providing fans of the Grand Theft Auto series with tidbits and teasers on what to expect from the new game world in GTA 6. As more leaks are revealed, we will update this article accordingly, so watch this space!

GTA 6 Map

Where GTA 5 brought new life to Los Santos in San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto VI sees players return to the Miami-inspired Vice City for the first time since 2002. Vice City will be the main focal point of the next Grand Theft Auto game and leakers have noted that the entire GTA 6 map will be the size of the Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5 map, combined into one glorious beast.

In any case, be prepared to spend hours exploring every nook and cranny of this new game world, as most buildings will be enterable. From convenience stores and bars to apartments, GTA 6 promises to add a whole new dimension to the GTA franchise with a living, breathing, realistic Vice City.

GTA 6 Characters

For GTA 6, Rockstar Games continues the innovative trend of having multiple playable characters. Where GTA 5 had Trevor, Michael, and Franklin, GTA 6 has been reported to bring two new protagonists to the table: Jason and Lucia. Since these details have been disclosed, fans have been creating fanart on what they could potentially look like.

The latter is groundbreaking, as Lucia will be the first-ever female main character in modern-day Rockstar Games history and a much-needed addition. Lucia in particular has an interesting backstory, having reportedly been in jail and fled to Vice City. She is of Latin-American origin, in her late 20s, and is a skilled hacker.

The two characters for Grand Theft Auto 6 are seemingly in a relationship, based on leaked material, with a story influenced by the bank-robbing criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde.

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Like GTA 5, Grand Theft Auto 6 will have a "character switch" function, where players can swap between Jason and Lucia at any time by pressing the "Down" on the D-pad on a controller.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Online

Grand Theft Auto Online is one of the main reasons GTA 5 remains popular as a consistent Steam topper with its in-game purchases. Despite being released in 2013, it still boasts around 100K monthly players.

GTA Online is essentially a game in its own right, with a decade of updates on its back, making it a super popular addition to the Grand Theft Auto series. The Grand Theft Auto Online MMO has plenty of dynamic features, including heists, career progression, roleplay servers, race playlists, and tons more to keep players entertained.

While it's hard to imagine anything replacing the beloved GTA Online, we're sure that Rockstar North has something up its sleeve to combine GTA Online with GTA 6. After all, GTA Online is a massive money-spinner, reported to make half a billion dollars annually. We imagine that GTA Online will combine the worlds of Los Santos and Vice City, potentially making them two seperate maps for players to choose from.

GTA 6: Improved NPC AI and Graphics

Considering it's been over 10 years in the making, Grand Theft Auto VI will be innovative with its new graphics and in-game AI systems. GTA 6 will feature the new RAGE Engine graphics engine, paving the way for the next generation of games. GTA 6 will also feature improved AI systems for NPCs, called the "System and Method for Virtual Navigation in a Gaming Environment."

This new innovative engine will emphasize traffic, bringing more realistic traffic possibilities for players. In GTA 6, the NPCs should have better control of the vehicles, being able to accelerate and brake more reactively and less mechanically.

Like Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 6 may also feature a witness and police recognition system. In a leaked gameplay video, Jason and Lucia rob Hank's Waffle House. In the aftermath, viewers can see "Full Description" under their Wanted Level, implying witnesses gave police a complete description of their appearances. Once the characters enter a vehicle, police will also know what their car looks like. This could potentially bring back the classic GTA mechanic of respraying cars to evade police detection.

Final Thoughts

That's all the information we have on the Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks so far. We can't wait to dive back into the sunstrip of Vice City and see what Rockstar Games have been cooking up for 10 years in the next entry in the GTA series. We'll update this article accordingly if any new interesting GTA 6 rumors come to light. 

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